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Totally Tomatoes
What ripens to red, orange, purple, or yellow, has seeds, and is bursting with the fresh flavor of summer? Tomatoes come in a rainbow of colors; the most common is red, of course. Tomatoes add color, nutrients, and interest to our meals. Not only can we chop, slice, and eat them fresh, but they serve as the base for recipes and sauces in many cultures. If you want to find new recipes from cultures around the world there are some ideas below, or you can check out Oldways.
Salsa Fresca
Ripe tomatoes are everywhere this time of year. You may find an abundance of tomatoes at your farmers’ market, food pantry, food store, or even in your own yard. Ripe tomatoes taste so good, but it can be overwhelming to figure out what to do with them all. Our August recipe of the month is here to help you out.
Tomatoes…Yum! Doesn’t matter if they are a fruit or a vegetable
Remember that old argument…is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Here’s the answer. BOTH. Botanically speaking, the tomato is a fruit. A “fruit” is any fleshy material covering a seed or seeds. Horticulturally speaking, the tomato is a vegetable plant. The plant is an annual and non-woody. (Source: Produce Marketing Association and the Produce for Better Health Foundation.)
It’s Cold Outside, Time for Soup
Soup is a great comfort food for winter meals, and so good for you too. Our featured recipe for January is Mexican Chicken Soup. Making this soup takes less time than getting in the car and driving through your favorite takeout place. You don’t have to cook the chicken ahead of time. Just place raw boneless chicken in the pot with the other ingredients. After cooking for about 20 minutes, take the chicken out and shred it into bite-size pieces. Serve it with tortilla chips or bread, apple/orange slices and you have a meal with something from each food group plus plenty of fiber. For extra instruction, check out the preparation video under the recipe instructions.
Meatless Meals – What about beans?
A couple of weeks ago, I posted about meatless meals on our Facebook page. Choosing to go meatless for a meal or for an entire day is one way to save a little money on your grocery bill. This can be easy at breakfast and lunch, but tends to be a little more difficult at supper time. Even with a husband and a son who like to have meat with their meals, our family enjoys a meatless supper together once or twice each week.
Want to Make Salsa?
This morning I got an email from my sister:
Cheesy Pasta with Summer Veggies
Our yummy Cheesy Pasta with Summer Veggies recipe is filled with vegetables, whole grain, and is low in calories. Plus it is very versatile, so you can use any vegetable that you have on hand. In the summer I make it with garden vegetables such as broccoli, zucchini, peppers, carrots and fresh tomatoes. In the winter I use a frozen vegetable mix and drained, canned tomatoes. If I have some leftover meat or beans in the refrigerator, I add that along with the vegetables.
Tomato Time – Yum
Tomatoes are by far the most popular vegetable grown in our gardens, and for good reason. They are tasty, nutritious, versatile, relatively easy to grow, and return high value for the space they occupy.
Update from Justine – What do I Grow?
In early June, I wrote about how I decide what to grow in our garden. When planning out our garden this year, I asked my children what they wanted to grow. My oldest son chose to grow four different pepper plants, my daughter chose to grow romaine lettuce, and my youngest son chose to grow zinnias. These choices did not take up a lot of space, so I added two tomato plants and two acorn squash plants.